Catfishing in Upper Minnesota's Red River

"You'd never know that this river held that big of fish" 

My brother in-law Paul is the man who had introduced me to catfishing 4 years ago now. 

He and his family have had a long standing tradition of heading over to the Red River for a weekend of fishing and playing in the muddy banks of the Minnesota/North Dakota border. I'm so grateful for getting an invite.

Now, 7/25/20 A few miles short of the Canada Border.

I'm sitting on the tiller end of my 14ft boat, tiny ripples in the river tap gently on the sides in a continuous rhythm. The brownish clay like silted water, churning in slow motion on what appears to be a mudslide instead of a river.  The Red River of the North boasts 70 species of fish. You would never know it by the mere 5 inches of water clarity. 

My fishing rod is pointed off the rear of the boat facing down river (North). A tiny brass alarm bell is clamped onto the end of the rod. The braided line is tight, held on the bottom with 3 ounces of lead. The line producing almost a buzzing sound from the strong river current. Other than that, all is quiet.  

I had caught some Goldeneyes in Fargo a few weeks ago, cutting them up and freezing them for cut-bait to use for this trip. I'm still fairly new to fishing catfish, but thanks to my brief internet searches, I now know that they have a taste for fresh Goldeneyes, Suckers and Frogs this time of year.  I'm banking Goldeyes, turns out it didn't matter. 

"Fish on!"

One of the brothers says with a smile from the front of my boat. "On a frog!?" I ask with some bewilderment.  Line spins from the reel and he tightened the drag slowly, the heavy rod bends further than what looks comfortable, but stands it ground.  He fights to reel in the mystery from the bottom of the river, and I scramble to grab the net. And what feels like a few seconds later I'm helping him weight a 14.4 lb catfish.

Over the course of the Saturday we reeled in some awesome fish. I personally caught 2 catfish weighting 17 and 11 lbs. They're like reeling in anchors. Some had scars, others had a white appearance against the dark stained river. All of them fought like monsters. These are truly a riot to catch. Great tasting too.

From Breckenridge to Canada (And into Canada) the Red River produces tons of fish and opportunity literally at every bend. Give it a try. Needless to say, I'm hooked.